Check out the Top Ten Highlights of 2013 from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee!

It’s been a great year. Thanks to all of our bold progressive members for being part of it!

1. “Expand Social Security”

In July, we announced a big strategic shift: Instead of playing defense, we would rally around bills to EXPAND Social Security benefits.

Along with our allies, PCCC members deliveredAi??petitionsAi??to congressional offices around the nation. We releasedAi??pollsAi??showing this idea was popular by 2 to 1 in Kentucky and 3 to 1 in Texas!

After the Washington Post op-ed pageAi??attackedAi??”bold progressives” for leading the way on this issue, Elizabeth Warren made national news that day by endorsing Social Security expansion on the Senate floor (and in an email to PCCC members).

Nobel economist Paul Krugman writes, “a funny thing has happened in the past year or so. Suddenly, weai??i??re hearing open discussion of the idea that Social Security should be expanded, not cut.ai???

2. PCCC membersAi??Ai??Elizabeth Warren

When Elizabeth Warren called for students to get the same low interest rates as big banks, over 1000 professors (who are also PCCC members) endorsed the idea.

When Elizabeth Warren demanded bank regulators crack down on Wall Street crimes, PCCC members pressured the SEC to listen!

When Elizabeth Warren was attacked, PCCC members attacked back!

Warren’s hometown Boston GlobeAi??profiledAi??us recently. They wrote, “A group called Progressive Change Campaign Committee is waging the most visible of these pro-Warren crusades.”

The NationAi??writes, “Warrenai??i??s voice is amplified by groups like the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which have identified her as their ‘north star’ in the fight to renew the Democratic Party. That scares corporate interests.”

On Monday, the Boston Globe’s front page featured a wide ranging profile of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and all of the amazing work PCCC members have done to push the Democratic Party to embrace Elizabeth Warren’s agenda and fight for progressive change.

Can you help us continue to fight for Elizabeth Warren’s agenda in 2014? Click here.

The Boston Globe: Progressive wing waves Elizabeth Warren banner

Adam Green and Stephanie Taylor are cofounders of Progressive Change Campaign Committee. The group has been promoting the political profile of Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in presidential primary states.

WASHINGTON ai??i?? Elizabeth Warren has pledged she will not seek the White House in 2016, but that has not stopped diehard Warren boosters from promoting her political profile in presidential primary states, saying she is best positioned to push the Democratic Party to the left.

A group called Progressive Change Campaign Committee is waging the most visible of these pro-Warren crusades, training volunteers, meeting with labor leaders in New Hampshire, and handing out stickers with Warrenai??i??s name.

But there are costs to party unity, as the Massachusetts senator becomes a central figure in an intensifying battle for the Democratic Partyai??i??s soul.

The movement behind Warren is not as intense as the conservative Tea Party version for Republican candidates, but pushing against the partyai??i??s center is the goal for both.

ai???Weai??i??re going to make sure that every Democrat who runs for president is forced to say whether they agree with Elizabeth Warren on key issues, like expanding Social Security benefits and more Wall Street reform,ai??? said Adam Green, the 37-year-old cofounder of the group.

Warrenai??i??s impassioned stance on expanding Social Security is in defiance of President Obamaai??i??s proposal to trim the growth of benefit payments in future years. On …

Adam Green and Stephanie Taylor are cofounders of Progressive Change Campaign Committee. The group has been promoting the political profile of Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in presidential primary states.

Elizabeth Warren has pledged she will not seek the White House in 2016, but that has not stopped diehard Warren boosters from promoting her political profile in presidential primary states, saying she is best positioned to push the Democratic Party to the left.

A group called Progressive Change Campaign Committee is waging the most visible of these pro-Warren crusades, training volunteers, meeting with labor leaders in New Hampshire, and handing out stickers with Warrenai??i??s name.

Ever since it caused an outpouring of indignation on the left by attacking Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the Wall Street Journal, Third Way, the neoliberal think tank, has been ducking questions about where, exactly, its funding comes from.

But at a demonstration on Wednesday outside its Washington, D.C., office, senior vice president Matt Bennett admitted that, contrary to the impression Third Way initially gave of the finance sector providing a minuscule amount of its funding, Third Wayai??i??s money comes overwhelmingly from its board of trustees ai??i?? which, as Daily Kos and others have shown, is itself overwhelmingly composed of people who make their living in finance.

Asked by Progressive Change Campaign Committee co-founder Adam Green to name a percentage of Third Wayai??i??s funding that comes from peopleAi??in the finance sector ai??i?? rather than institutions ai??i?? Bennett concededAi??that ai???the majority of our financial support [comes] from trustees.ai???Ai??When Green pressed Bennett for a ai???ball parkai??? or a ai???percentageai??? guess, Bennett demurred. ai???Iai??i??m not going to get into that,ai??? he said.

On a brisk, sunny Wednesday afternoon a handful of protesters stood outside of 1025 Connecticut Ave NW in Washington, while a boisterous woman led the groupai??i??s chants.Ai??ai???What is America going to be?ai??? they asked. ai???Corporate Greed or Democracy?ai???

People from all across the country, including retirees and caregivers from Illinois, Montana, and North Carolina, had been brought together by leftist organizations Social Security Works and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) to denounce Third Way, a centrist democratic think tank, and their stance on social security.

ai???Up with America,ai??? they jeered at the faAi??ade of the building housing the groupai??i??s headquarters, holding signs that read ai???We are from the Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democratic Party,ai??? a signal of support for the freshman senator who supports expanding Social Security.Ai?? ai???Down with Third Way.ai???

Progressives, led by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee,Ai??pushed back hard onAi??Third Way’s attack on Elizabeth WarrenAi??and their claim that economic populism was “disastrous” for Democrats. As a growing team of progressive groups joined the fray, Third Way’s Democratic co-chairs started distancing themselves from the attack.Ai??The New York TimesAi??called the campaign’s successAi??”the latest indication that the liberal wing of theAi??Democratic PartyAi??is ascendant.”

Last week, corporate-funded think tank Third Way attacked Elizabeth Warren in Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal — saying her bold economic populism is “dangerous for Democratic Party.” Wrong!

Polls show Warren’s ideas are popular in red, purple, and blue states. That’s why Wall Street fears her.

The PCCC is leading the fight against Third Way’s corporatist strategy and calling them out for refusing to make their Wall Street ties public.

Over 100,000 people have joined our petition calling on Third Way to disclose their Wall Street donors. Click here to sign on.

The petition and actions by PCCC members have already been covered by the New York Times, Washington Post, ABC News, Wall Street Journal, and more!

The New York Times reported:

In a sign of the leftai??i??s new aggressiveness, a coalition of liberals is trying to marginalize a centrist Democratic policy group that was responsible for a Wall Street Journal op-ed article this week that said economic populism was ai???disastrousai??? for the party.

The coalition, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and three other liberal advocacy organizations have urged their members to contact a group of congressional Democrats who are honorary leaders of the centrist group, Third Way. It published the op-ed article on Monday contending that the liberalism of Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio of New York City and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts would lead Democrats ai???over the populist cliff.ai???

The article ai??i?? written by Jon Cowan, president of Third Way, and Jim Kessler, its senior vice president for policy ai??i?? criticizes progressives like Ms. Warren and Mr. de Blasio for opposing measures to cut ai??i?? Social Security and Medicare.

The liberal groupsai??i?? campaign has already gotten results, the latest indication that the liberal wing of the Democratic Party is ascendant.

Help us continue to put pressure on Wall Street-backed …

In a sign of the leftai??i??s new aggressiveness, a coalition of liberals is trying to marginalize a centrist Democratic policy group that was responsible for a Wall Street Journal op-ed article this week that said economic populism was ai???disastrousai??? for the party.

The coalition, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and three other liberal advocacy organizations have urged their members to contact a group of congressional Democrats who are honorary leaders of the centrist group, Third Way. It published the op-ed article on Monday contending that the liberalism of Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio of New York City and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts would lead Democrats ai???over the populist cliff.ai???

The article ai??i?? written by Jon Cowan, president of Third Way, and Jim Kessler, its senior vice president for policy ai??i?? criticizes progressives like Ms. Warren and Mr. de Blasio for opposing measures to cut … Social Security and Medicare.

The liberal groupsai??i?? campaign has already gotten results, the latest indication that the liberal wing of the Democratic Party is ascendant.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Progressives United and Democracy For America all called on Schwartz Tuesday to resign from her position as honorary co-chair of Third Way. Democratic primary opponent John Hanger echoed the demand. Mark Bergman, a spokesman for Schwartz, said she would not resign but said in an email to The Huffington Post that she thought the op-ed was “outrageous, and strongly disagrees with it.”

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is calling on Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) to drop her affiliation with the think tank Third Way.

Schwartz, who is currently running for governor, serves as an honorary co-chair of the think tank. The call, made by PCCC co-founder Adam Green in an email to supporters on Wednesday, is the latest shot in a recently in an escalating feud between Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Third Way.

The Liberal Fix team was very excited to sit down with the Press Secretary for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and talk about the challenges that progressives face, the opportunities that exist, as well as their recent focus on expanding Social Security.

The PCCC has played a large part in moving the dialogue on Social Security away from decreasing benefits to expanding existing benefits.

Most recently and notably Senator Warren offered her full support for expanding Social Security and made a very public statement in support of the effort.

Add Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to the growing chorus of voices calling for the expansion of Social Security benefits.

Groups such as MoveOn.org, the Campaign for America’s Future, Patriot Majority and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee have been campaigning for expanded Social Security benefits since the re-introduction of Harkin’s legislation.

“Social Security is incredibly effective, it is incredibly popular, and the calls for strengthening it are growing louder every day,” Warren said.

But Harkin’s bill, which has also drawn the support of Begich, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), has forced the issue into the political mainstream, and Warren’s backing turns the issue into a likely topic in the 2016 Democratic presidential race.

“This summer no one even talked about (expanding benefits), but now we’re really building momentum,” Kimberly Fountain, campaign director for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, told Raw Story.

If Elizabeth Warren is emerging as a kind of spokeswoman for the new economic populism that many Democratic activists want the party to embrace heading into 2014 and 2016, this speech that Warren is currently delivering on the floor of the Senate suggests the push to expand Social Security could become a key issue in the argument over the Democratic Party of the future.

In remarks Warren just began delivering, she strongly endorsed the push to boost Social Security benefits — in keeping with Senator Tom Harkin’s proposal to do the same — and condemned the “Chained CPI” that liberals fear Dems will embrace in strong terms.

By planting a flag on the need to expand Social Security, Warren may have just added this issue to the pantheon of preoccupations that are driving those who want to see the party embrace a more economically populist posture going forward. Liberal bloggers such as Atrios and liberal groups like the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, have been pushing for a Social Security expansion, arguing that Democratic priorities should be centered on the idea that declining pensions and wages (and savings) are undermining retirement security, and that the party should above all stand against undermining the social insurance system.

Elizabeth Warren is a popular figure on the left wing of the Democratic Party due to her aggressive focus on inequality and financial reform. Last week, The New Republic’s Noam Schieber floated her as a potential candidate in the 2016 Democratic Party, where should could serve as a foil to the more Wall Street-friendly Hillary Clinton.

The PCCC has not said that it is trying to draft Warren into the race. Instead, the group appears to be trying to demonstrate the popularity of her anti-austerity, pro-financial reform message in the hopes that other Democratic politicians will begin to emulate it.

In a statement on O’Malley’s keynote speech, PCCC spokesperson Matt Wall alluded to who the real target of the organization’s “Elizabeth Warren wing” campaign might be: Not O’Malley, who is currently polling at 0% among New Hampshire Democrats, but presidential heir apparent Hillary Clinton.

“It’s fantastic that Governor O’Malley took the fight to those who would cut Social Security benefits. That’s a winning message for Democrats and a potentially defining issue in any Democratic primary,” said Wall. “Hopefully Hillary Clinton soon says that she opposes any cuts to Social Security benefits—and makes clear that Democrats are united around that position going into 2016.”

It’s time to reshape the debate around Social Security. For too long Democrats have been playing defense, working to protect Social Security benefits from cuts when really we need to EXPAND Social Security benefits. Now a growing number of voices are calling for Social Security expansion — and they’re beginning to turn the conversation.

In June, the PCCC put together a coalition of over 30 national groups representing over 20 million Americans leading the movement to expand Social Security benefits including the PCCC, AFL-CIO, National Organization for Women, Social Security Works, Latinos for a Secure Retirement, MoveOn, Democracy For America, and CREDO Action.

In July, the PCCC launched the campaign on MSNBC’s Ed Show. On the show,Ai??Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) discussed their bills in the Senate that would expand benefits by $452 for retirees at age 75 and $807 at age 85. By ai???scrapping the capai??? on what the wealthy pay into Social Security, the Harkin-Begich plan will pay for these benefit increases and leave trillions left over to extend Social Securityai??i??s solvency beyond its current $2.7 trillion surplus.Ai??Alan Grayson (D-FL), Mike Honda (D-CA), and over 40 members of Congress have co-sponsored House versions of the Harkin-Begich plan.

Over 649,000 progressives have signed on toAi??petitionsAi??calling on Congress to expand Social Security benefits.

In August, local PCCC members held events around the nation pressuring their representatives in Congress to support expanding Social Security benefits and generated media coverage in Kentucky, California, Iowa, New Jersey, Colorado, Hawaii, and Texas. The PCCC released polls showing expanding Social Security benefits is popular in red, purple, and blue states.Ai??RecentAi??pollsAi??from states as diverse as Kentucky, Iowa, and California show that expanding Social Security benefits is popular by over 2 to 1. In Texas, Colorado, and Hawaii, it’s 3 to 1.

Last week, …

Karissa Gerhke here, Director of Member Engagement with the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. Last week, I joined labor unions and organizational partners at the Kentucky Labor Federationai??i??s Biennial Convention. We discussed work weai??i??ve accomplished, as well as upcoming plans to build progressive power in 2014.

The energy at the convention was invigorating. I was able to reconnect with AFGE members we worked with during the government shutdown ai??i??Ai??census workers like Jeremy Lannan who is thrilled to be back to work but ready to organize against those that caused the shutdown.

I met folks like Will Emmons and Tyler Simonds, two young activists working to organize a workersai??i?? collective in Lexington, and Clifton Gardner ai??i??Ai??a retired UMWA miner who wasAi??happy about the UMWAai??i??s recent win against Peabody CoalAi??but is tired of Democratic candidates who donai??i??t stand up for working class folks.

The air in the convention hall was electric with buzz about the 2014 election.Ai??For the first time in years, it looks like Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell could lose his seat in 2014, and Kentucky labor is eager to seize this opportunity.

The McConnell election is only half the story though. Kentucky is the last southern state where Democrats hold the majority at the state level ai??i?? and they retain it by a slim margin. Union members are afraid (for good reason) of a Republican majority in the State House. It would likely lead to destructive policies like right to work legislation and restrictive voter ID laws. If Kentucky is going to retain their Democratic majority, it will be crucial to recruit bold, exciting candidates that actually represent working families of Kentucky.

One recurring theme throughout the convention was that there arenai??i??t enough people running for office who represent the interests of everyday working families. As Clifton put it, ai???itai??i??s hard …

TBQ’s Alexia Nader interviews Adam Green and Stephanie Taylor, founders of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC).

After meeting as student activists and organizers at the University of Virginia, Adam Green and Stephanie Taylor worked at MoveOn.org before leaving to found the PCCC. Prior to that launch, Green had worked in press and communications for several Democratic campaigns and party committees, while Taylor spent several years as a union organizer of health care workers in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. PCCC’s stated mission is “to build progressive power by changing who holds power.” Their website’s domain name is even more succinct: BoldProgressives.org.

“Social Security in 2016 could be the Iraq of 2008, meaning a definitive issue that primary voters make decisions based on,” said Adam Green, co-founder of Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which is leading a concerted charge to expand Social Security benefits. Roger Hickey, director of the Campaign for America’s Future, characterized the coming battle over reforming the nation’s safety-net programs as a seminal moment for Democrats. “It’s a real point of conflict and battle within the Democratic Party. It endangers the Democrats’ ability to win elections. You don’t want to go into a presidential election saying, ‘I’m going to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits.’ That’s the formula for making sure there’s not the first woman president.” And Justin Ruben, the head of the eight-million member MoveOn.org, has been even more unequivocal, saying in April, “Any Democrat who is voting to cut Social Security benefits is probably kissing his or her presidential aspirations goodbye.”

As Republicans and Democrats alike talk about trimming social safety-net programs to reduce deficits, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, is pushing a proposal to increase Social Security benefits.

“There are plenty of ways to … get in a better place in the budget,” Brown said in call with reporters and PCCC members Wednesday. “Cutting social security is not one of them.”

He has signed onto a bill, sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, that would make the Social Security benefit formula a tad more generous, would give seniors more robust cost-of-living increases, and would require wealthier Americans to pay more in Social Security taxes.

A growing coalition of progressive groups and seniors’ organizations are gathering behind Sen. Tom Harkin’s bill to expand Social Security benefits. On a conference call with PCCC members, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) was asked by a supporter whether such a measure would stand a chance in a Congress that can’t seem to come together to pass any constructive legislation. “It depends on the pressure that you all put on them,” he said. GOP lawmakers, he added, are “always concerned about a right-wing tea party challenge, but the public is clearly with us on this, and I think the more they hear about this the better our chances of winning some of our Republican colleagues over.”

When the new budget conferees met last week, Budget Chairman Paul Ryan ruled out any new taxes, spawning headlines that he had “killed” the grand bargain. The response from progressives? We killed it first.

“Harry Reid already killed it by saying there will be no benefit cuts. Paul Ryan shot bullets into the corpse,” said Adam Green, who heads up the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “Unfortunately, this zombie has come back to life many times — and by making the case for why seniors need expanded Social Security benefits, a national coalition of groups will continue working to keep a Grand Bargain dead and off the table.”

Liberal Democrats on the Hill have taken the hint: they are not only outright opposing any changes to Social Security, there’s a small but growing group of Senators who are looking to expand the program. A bill introduced by Sen. Tom Harkin and backed by Sens. Sherrod Brown, Mark Begich, and Brian Schatz, would do just that.

“The only way that right-wing politicians win on this if cuts to Social Security are buried under the guise of restructuring and reforming entitlements in some other budget deal,” said Brown on a conference call with PCCC supporters. “I cannot believe there will be a major budget deal presented on the floor of the senate that has cuts to Social Security.”

Today at noon Eastern, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) will join PCCC members from across the nation on a national conference call to discuss growing momentum behind the push to expand Social Security benefits. Click here to listen to the call online.Ai??

Yesterday, Sen. Brown announced toAi??the PCCC’s national membership base of nearly 1 million membersAi??that he will be cosponsoring Senator Tom Harkin’s (D-IA) Social Security expansion bill in the Senate and joining forces with the PCCC to go on offense on Social Security.

In a message to PCCC members, Ai??Sen. Brown said:

“There are plenty of ways to improve the Social Security that nearly 2 million people in Ohio rely on — like lifting the income cap, or calculating benefits in a way that better accounts for the expenses seniors face.Ai??And neither of those involves cutting benefits.Ai??That’s why today I’m announcing that I’m teaming up with Tom Harkin and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) to grow a progressive grassroots movement devoted to expanding Social Security.”

Progressives are rallying around two bills in the Senate sponsored by Sen. Harkin and Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) that would expand benefits by $452 for retirees at age 75 and $807 at age 85. By “scrapping the cap” on what the wealthy pay into Social Security, the Harkin-Begich plan will pay for these benefit increases and leave trillions left over to extend Social Security’s solvency beyond its current $2.7 trillion surplus.Ai??Alan Grayson (D-FL), Mike Honda (D-CA), and over 40 members of Congress have co-sponsored House versions of the Harkin-Begich plan.

Over 30 national groups representing over 20 million Americans are leading the movement to expand Social Security benefits including the PCCC, AFL-CIO, National Organization for Women, Latinos for a Secure Retirement, MoveOn, Democracy For America, and CREDO Action.

Over 635,000 progressives …

In a town consumed by how quickly and how deeply to cut Social Security, a handful of Democratic senators have a different idea: expand it.

Legislation to this effect was introduced earlier this spring by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee. The Strengthening Social Security Act of 2013 has since been co-sponsored by Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Mark Begich (D-AK) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who added his name this week.

Progressive activists are touting the bill, eager to shift the terms of the debate from how much to cut retirement benefits to ways to increase them. The AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor union, wants to expand Social Security. Liberal activist groups including MoveOn.org and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee have made it their new rallying cry.

“Senator Brown’s endorsement of expanding Social Security benefits is a clear sign that Democrats are ready to go on offense after winning the government shutdown, after years of playing defense,” said PCCC’s co-founder Adam Green. “[O]ur polling shows that expanding benefits is super popular even in deep red states like Texas and Kentucky. Progressives are on offense, and we’re not looking back.”

You’ll hear talk of tax and entitlement reform early next year as House and Senate budget conferees once again look for ways out of another fiscal panic. But before you can say “don’t touch my Social Security,” a group of progressives — Democrats in Congress, the AFL-CIO, NOW, MoveOn — is saying: Let’s raise Social Security benefits.
And Ohio Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown will join them today.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, composed of activists from liberal and labor organizations behind high-profile political and public policy campaigns such as the draft-Elizabeth Warren movement, wants to boost the annual cost-of-living adjustment. By the time a retiree was age 75, he or she would be getting an extra $452 a year, and $807 more a year by age 85.

This could resonate with retirees — nearly 2 million in Ohio — who learned last week that the 2014 cost-of-living adjustment will be a meager 1.5 percent.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) has become the fifth Democratic senator to get behind a push to increase Social Security benefits for seniors, as progressives seek to push back against White House attempts to cut the program.

PCCC co-founder Adam Green said the Brown move gives momentum to the bill which is backed by the AFL-CIO and many of its member unions.

“Senator Brown’s endorsement of expanding Social Security benefits is a clear sign that Democrats are ready to go on offense after winning the government shutdown, after years of playing defense,” Green said.